Electronic components generate waste heat energy when in use. This heat energy should be removed to mitigate a potential for component overheating and subsequent malfunction. Computer systems typically include a number of such components, or waste heat sources, that include, but are not limited to, printed circuit boards, mass storage devices, power supplies, and processors. For example, one personal computer system may generate 100 watts to 150 watts of waste heat and some larger computers with multiple processors may generate 250 watts of waste heat. Some known computer systems include a plurality of such larger, multiple-processor computers that are configured into rack-mounted components, and then are subsequently positioned within a rack computing system. Some known rack computing systems include 40 such rack-mounted components and such rack computing systems will therefore generate as much as 10 kilowatts of waste heat. Moreover, some known data centers include a plurality of such rack computing systems.
Various structures with waste heat sources often include methods and apparatuses configured to facilitate waste heat removal from some part of the structure. Where a structure includes an enclosure in which waste heat sources are located, the methods and apparatuses may be configured to facilitate waste heat removal from the waste heat sources the enclosure, or some combination thereof. For example, a data center may include methods and apparatuses may be configured to facilitate waste heat removal from a plurality of rack computing systems.
Some waste heat removal systems remove waste heat from data centers by transferring waste heat to flows of air (“exhaust air”), which are then used to transport the waste heat to an environment external to the data center. Such an environment can include an ambient environment.
Waste heat removal systems often use mechanical systems that use moving parts to facilitate waste heat removal from the data centers. For example, some waste heat removal systems in some data centers may utilize air moving devices, including blowers, fans, or the like, to induce one or more flows of air, including exhaust air, to transport waste heat out of the data center. Such systems usually consume electricity and may themselves generate waste heat, further increasing the amount of waste heat that must be removed from the data center and necessitating the mechanical systems to be enlarged to handle the greater waste heat load. Some waste heat removal systems do not use air moving devices to remove waste heat from a data center, and may use a pressure gradient towards the ambient environment from the data center enclosure to induce exhaust airflow out of the data center and into the ambient environment.
Environmental conditions of an ambient environment may be non-uniform and may fluctuate with minimal warning, even at a given location. Aside from the significant changes in temperature and humidity that can occur with the change of seasons, environmental quality of the ambient environment may vary due to a myriad of external factors. Such variation in environmental conditions can create challenges in removing waste heat from an enclosure that has waste heat sources to the ambient environment. For example, precipitation, including rain, snow, ice, hail, and the like, smoke, smog, particulate matter, and airborne by-products of industrial and/or agricultural activities can all affect usability of outside air as a reservoir for air carrying waste heat and can further enter the data center through pathways normally used to expel waste heat into the ambient environment and may contaminate or damage various systems in the data center.
In some cases, environmental conditions of an ambient environment can cause exhaust air flow from a data center to be at least partially restricted by reducing the surface area of exhaust vents that is available to discharge exhaust air from the data center enclosure. For example, ambient air flow in the ambient environment, including ambient headwinds, may impinge on one or more exhaust vents used to discharge exhaust air from the enclosure.
In some cases, where a waste heat removal system in the data center induces an exhaust airflow into the ambient environment is induced by air moving devices, an impinging headwind can result in reduced exhaust airflow for a given amount of power supplied to the air moving devices, thereby making the vent being impinged by the headwind less suitable for exhaust air discharge. While the air moving devices may be supplied additional power to overcome the impinging headwind, such an additional use of power may be considered to be a waste of resources.
In some cases, where a waste heat removal system in the data center includes a passive exhaust system, and exhaust air is discharged from the vents into the ambient environment via a pressure gradient towards the ambient environment across the vents, an impinging headwind can eliminate or reverse the pressure gradient, thereby making the surface area of the vent being impinged by the headwind unavailable for discharging exhaust air.
As a result, the ability of a waste heat removal system to discharge exhaust air from the data center, and thus remove waste heat from same, may be at least partially restricted by headwinds impinging on at least a portion of one or more exhaust vents. Such restriction can lead to excess waste heat buildup in the data center enclosure, which can lead to thermal damage risks for heat-sensitive equipment and safety risks for operators in the data center.
The various embodiments described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.